TANNEHILL

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION

RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT OF 1974

(REGULATION)

 

 

In accordance with the policy of the board of education, the following regulation shall govern the release of student records to students and members of the student's family, legal custodian, or legal guardian.

 

 

DEFINITIONS

 

For the purpose of this regulation, the school district has used the following definitions of terms:

 

Student

              Any person who attends or has attended a program of instruction sponsored by the board of education of this school district.

 

Eligible Student

              A student or former student who has reached age 18 or is attending a post-secondary school, and who is no longer a dependent of the parent for federal tax purposes.

 

Parent

              Either natural parent of a student unless his or her rights under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) have been removed by a court order; an adopted parent; a guardian; or an individual acting as a parent or guardian in the absence of the student's parent or guardian.

 

Education Records

              Any item of information or record (in handwriting, print, computer media, video or audio tape, film, microfilm, microfiche, or other medium) maintained by the school district, an employee of the district, or an agent of the district which is directly related to an identifiable student except:

 

              1.   A personal record, including informal notes, kept by a school staff member, which meets the following tests:

 

                   A.     It was made as a personal memory aid;

 

                   B.     It is in the sole possession of the individual who made it; or

 

                   C.     Information contained in it has never been revealed or made available to any other person except the maker's temporary substitute;

 

              2.     An employment record which is used only in relation to a student's employment by the school district (employment for this purpose does not include activities for which a student receives a grade or credit in a course); or

 

              3.     Alumni records that relate to the student after the student no longer attends classes provided by the school district and the records do not relate to the person as a student.

 

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

Personal Identifier

              Any data or information that makes the subject of a record known.  This includes the student's name, the student's parents or other family member's name, the student's address, the student's social security number, a student number, a list of personal characteristics, or any other information that would make the student's identity known.

 

 

ANNUAL NOTIFICATION

 

Within the first three weeks of each school year, the school district will publish a notice to parents and eligible students of their rights under the FERPA and this policy.  The district will also send home with each student a bulletin listing these rights and the bulletin will be included with a packet of material provided parents or an eligible student when the student enrolls during the school year.

 

The notice will include the following:

 

   1.       The right of a student's parent or eligible student to inspect and review the student's education records;

 

   2.       The intent of the school district is to limit the disclosure of information contained in a student's education records except:  (1) by the prior written consent of the student's parent or the eligible student, (2) as directory information, or, (3) under certain limited circumstances, as permitted by the FERPA;

 

   3.       The right of a student's parent or an eligible student to seek to correct parts of the student's education records which he or she believes to be inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of student rights (this right includes the right to a hearing to present evidence that the record should be changed if the district decides not to alter it according to the parent's or eligible student's request and the right to insert in the student’s permanent records an explanatory statement giving reasons for disagreeing with the decision);

 

   4.       The right of any person to file a complaint with the Department of Education if the school district violates the FERPA; and

 

   5.       The procedure that a student's parent or an eligible student should follow to obtain copies of this policy and the locations where copies may be obtained.

 

The district will arrange to provide translations of this notice to non-English speaking parents in their native language.

 

 

STATEMENT OF RIGHTS

 

Parents and eligible students have the following rights under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act and this policy:

 

   1.       The right to inspect and review the student's education record;

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

   2.       The right to exercise a limited control over other people's access to the student's education record;

 

   3.       The right to seek to correct the student's education record, in a hearing, if necessary;

 

   4.       The right to report violations of the FERPA to the Department of Education; and

 

   5.       The right to be informed about FERPA rights.

 

All rights and protections given parents under the FERPA and this policy transfer to the student when the student reaches 18 or enrolls in a post-secondary school.

 

 

LOCATIONS OF EDUCATION RECORDS

 

                          TYPES                                                   LOCATION                                          CUSTODIAN

 

Cumulative School Records                                      

 

Cumulative School Records                                      

(Former Students)

 

Health Records                                                             

 

School Transportation                                                

Records

 

Speech Therapy Records                                            

 

Psychological Records                                

 

 

PROCEDURE TO INSPECT EDUCATION RECORDS

 

The parent of a student or an eligible student may inspect the student's education records upon request.  In some circumstances, it may be mutually more convenient for the record custodian to provide copies of records.  See the schedule of fees for copies below.

 

Since a student's records may be maintained in several locations, the school principals will offer to collect copies of records or the records themselves from locations other than a student's school, so they may be inspected at one site.  However, if a parent or eligible student wishes to inspect records where they are maintained, school principals will make every effort to accommodate the wishes.

 

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

The parent or eligible student should submit to the student's school principal a written request that identifies, as precisely as possible, the record or records he or she wishes to inspect.

 

The principal (or other record custodian) will contact the parent of the student or the eligible student to discuss how access will be best arranged (copies, at the exact location, or records brought to a single site).

 

The principal (or other record custodian) will make the needed arrangements as promptly as possible and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.  This procedure must be completed in 45 days or less from the receipt of the request for access.

 

If for any valid reason, such as working hours, distance between record location sites, or health, a parent or eligible student cannot personally inspect and review a student's education record, the school district will arrange for the parent or eligible student to obtain copies of the record.  See below for information regarding fees for copies of records.

 

When a record contains information about students other than a parent's child or the eligible student, the parent or eligible student may not inspect and review the records of the other students.

 

FEES FOR COPIES OF RECORDS

 

The school district will not deny parents or eligible students any rights to copies of records because of the following published fees.  Where the fee represents an unusual hardship, it may be waived in part, or in whole, by the record custodian.  However, the district reserves the right to charge for copies, such as transcripts, it forwards to potential employers or to colleges and universities for employment or admission purposes.  The school district may deny copies of records to third parties (not parents or students) in the following situations:

 

   1.       The student has an unpaid financial obligation to the school.

 

   2.       There is an unresolved disciplinary action against the student that warrants the denial of copies.

 

The FERPA requires the school district to provide copies of records:

 

   1.       When the refusal to provide copies effectively denies access to the records by a parent or eligible student;

 

   2.       At the request of the parent or eligible students when the school district has provided the records to third parties by the prior consent of the parent or eligible student; or

 

   3.       At the request of the parent or eligible student when the school district has forwarded the records to another school where the student seeks or intends to enroll.

 

The fee for copies provided under the FERPA may not include the costs for search and retrieval.  The fee will be from no cost to ten cents per page.  (Actual copying cost, less hardship factor.)

 

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

The fee for all other copies, such as copies of records forwarded to third parties with prior consent or those provided to parents as a convenience, will be from ten cents to thirty-five cents per page (actual search, retrieval, and copying cost) plus postage, if incurred.

 

 

DIRECTORY INFORMATION

 

The school district proposes to designate the following personally identifiable information contained in a student's education record as "directory information”:

 

1. The student's name;

    

2. The student’s class designation (i.e., first grade, tenth grade, etc.);

    

      3.       The student’s extracurricular participation;

    

      4.       The student’s achievement awards or honors;

    

      5.       The student’s weight and height if a member of an athletic team;

    

      6.       The student’s photograph.

    

        

Within the first three weeks of each school year, the school district will publish the above list, or a revised list, of items of directory information it proposes to designate as directory information.  For students enrolling after the notice is published, the list will be given to the student's parent or the eligible student at the time and place of enrollment.

 

After the parent or eligible student has been notified, he or she will have two weeks to advise the school district in writing (a letter to the school superintendent's office) of any or all of the items they refuse to permit the district to designate as directory information about the student.

 

At the end of the two-week period, each student's record will be appropriately marked by the record custodian to indi­cate the items the district will designate as directory information about the student.  This designation will remain in effect until it is modified by the written direction of the student's parent or the eligible student.

 

The school district has created a limited directory information policy and will not fulfill directory information requests for commercial purposes or for marketing purposes. 

 

USE OF STUDENT EDUCATION RECORDS

 

To carry out their responsibilities, school officials will have access to student education records for legitimate educa­tional purposes.  The school district will use the following criteria to determine who are school officials.  An official is:

 

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

   1.       A person duly elected to the school board;

 

   2.       A person certified by the state and appointed by the school board to an administrative or supervisory position;

 

   3.       A person certified by the state and under contract to the school board as an instructor;

 

   4.       A person employed by the school board as a temporary substitute for administrative, supervisory, or instructional personnel for the period of his or her performance as a substitute; or

 

   5.       A person employed by, or under contract to, the school board to perform a special task such as a secretary, a clerk, the school board attorney or auditor, for the period of his or her performance as an employee or contractor.

 

School officials who meet the criteria listed above will have access to a student's records if they have a legitimate educational interest in doing so.  A "legitimate educational interest" is the person's need to know in order to:

 

   1.       Perform an administrative task required in the school employee's position description approved by the school board;

 

   2.       Perform a supervisory or instructional task directly related to the student's education; or

 

   3.       Perform a service or benefit for the student or the student's family such as health care, counseling, student job placement, or student financial aid.

 

The school district will only release information from, or permit access to, a student's education record with a parent's or eligible student's prior written consent except that the school superintendent, or a person designated in writing by the superintendent, may permit disclosure:

 

   1.       When a student seeks or intends to enroll in another school district or a post-secondary school (the district will not further notify the parent or eligible student prior to such a transfer of records; the parent or eligible student has a right to obtain copies of records transferred under this provision);

 

   2.       When certain federal and state officials need information in order to audit or enforce legal conditions related to federally supported education programs in the district;

 

   3.       The parties who provide or may provide financial aid to a student to:

 

             A.   Establish the student's eligibility for the aid,

 

             B.   Determine the amount of financial aid,

 

             C.   Establish the conditions for the receipt of the financial aid, or

 

             D.   Enforce the agreement between the provider and the receiver of financial aid;

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

   4.       When the school district has entered into a written agreement or contract for an organization to conduct studies on the school district's behalf to develop tests, administer student aid, or improve instruction;

 

   5.       To accrediting organizations to carry out their accrediting functions;

 

   6.       To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena (the district will make a reasonable effort to notify the student's parent or the eligible student before making a disclosure under this provision);

 

   7.       If the disclosure is an item of directory information, and the student's parent or eligible student has not refused to allow the district to designate that item as directory information for the student; or

 

   8.       In response to an ex parte order of the Attorney General of the United States or his/her designee in connection with the investigation or prosecution of terrorism crimes.

 

The school district will permit any of its officials to make the needed disclosure from student education records in a health or safety emergency if:

 

   1.       He or she deems it is warranted by the seriousness of the threat to the health or safety of the student or other persons;

 

   2.       The information is necessary and needed to meet the emergency;

 

   3.       The persons to whom the information is to be disclosed are qualified and in a position to deal with the emergency; or

 

   4.       Time is an important and limiting factor in dealing with the emergency.

 

The school district officials may release information from a student's education record if the student's parent or the eligible student gives prior written consent for disclosure.  The written consent must include at least:

 

   1.       A specification of the records to be released;

 

   2.       The reasons for the disclosure;

 

   3.       The person, organization, or the class or organizations to whom the disclosure is to be made;

 

   4.       The parent's or eligible student's signature; and

 

   5.       The date of the consent and, if appropriate, a date when the consent is to be terminated.

 

The student's parent or the eligible student may obtain a copy of any records disclosed under this provision.

 

 

 

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

The school district will not release information contained in a student's education records, except directory informa­tion, to any third parties except its own officials, unless those parties agree that the information will not be redisclosed without the parent's or eligible student's prior written consent.

 

 

RECORDS OF REQUESTS FOR ACCESS AND DISCLOSURES MADE

FROM EDUCATION RECORDS

 

The school district will maintain an accurate record of all requests for it to disclose information from, or to permit access to, a student's education records and of information it discloses and access it permits with some exceptions listed below.  This record will be kept with, but will not be a part of, the student's cumulative school records.  It will be available only to the record custodian, the eligible student, the parent of the student, or to federal, state, and local officials for the purpose of auditing or enforcing federally supported educational programs.

 

The record will include at least:

 

   1.       The name of the person or agency that made the request;

 

   2.       The interest the person or agency had in the information;

 

   3.       The date the person or agency made the request; and

 

   4.       Whether the request was granted and, if it was, the date access was permitted or the disclosure was made.

 

The district will maintain this record as long as it maintains the student's education record.

 

The record will not include:

 

   1.       Requests for access or access granted to the parent of the student or to an eligible student;

 

   2.       Request for access granted to officials of the school district who have a legitimate educational interest in the student;

 

   3.       Requests for, or disclosures of, information contained in the student's education record if the request is accom­panied by the prior written consent of a parent of the student or the eligible student or if the disclosure is authorized by such prior consent;

 

   4.       Requests for, or disclosure of, directory information designated for that student; or for

 

   5.       Requests for, or disclosure of, information contained in the student’s education record if the request is in response to an ex parte order of the Attorney General of the United States or his/her designee in connection with the investigation or prosecution of terrorism crimes.

 

 

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

PROCEDURES TO SEEK TO CORRECT EDUCATION RECORDS

The parent of a student or an eligible student has a right to seek to change any part of the student's record believed to be inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of student rights.  (NOTE:  under the FERPA, the district may decline to consider a request to change the grade a teacher assigns for a course.)

 

For the purpose of outlining the procedure to seek to correct education records, the term "incorrect" will be used to describe a record that is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of student rights.  The term "correct" will be used to describe a record that is accurate, not misleading, and not in violation of student rights.  Also, in this section, the term "requester" will be used to describe the parent of a student or the eligible student who is asking the school district to correct a record.

 

To establish an orderly process to review and correct an education record for a requester, the district may make a decision to comply with the request for change at several levels in the procedure.

 

First Level Decision

 

When a parent of a student or an eligible student finds an item in the student's education record that he or she believes is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of student rights, he or she should immediately ask the record custodian to correct it.  If the record is incorrect because of an obvious error and it is a simple matter to make the record change at this level, the record custodian will make the correction.  However, if the record is changed at this level, the method and result must satisfy the requester.

 

If the record custodian cannot change the record to the requester's satisfaction, or if the record does not appear to be obviously incorrect, the record custodian will:

 

   1.       Provide the requester a copy of the questioned record at no cost;

 

   2.       Ask the requester to initiate a written request for the change; and

 

   3.       Follow the procedure for a second level decision.

 

Second Level Decision

 

The written request to correct a student's education record through the procedure at this level should specify the cor­rection the requester wishes the district to make.  It should at least identify the item the requester believes is incorrect and state whether he or she believes the item:

 

   1.       Is inaccurate and why;

 

   2.       Is misleading and why; and/or

 

   3.       Violates student rights and why.

 

The request will be dated and signed by the requester.

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

Within two weeks after the record custodian receives a written request, he or she will:  study the request, discuss it with other school officials (the person who made the record or those who may have a professional concern about the

district's response to the request), make a decision to comply or decline to comply with the request, and complete the appropriate steps to notify the requester or move the request to the next level for a decision.

 

If, as a result of this review and discussion, the record custodian decides the record should be corrected, he or she will effect the change and notify the requester in writing that the change has been made.  Each such notice will include an invitation for the requester to inspect and review the student's education record to make certain the record is in order and the correction is satisfactory.

 

If the record custodian decides the record is correct, he or she will make a written summary of any discussions with other officials and of the findings in the matter.  The record custodian will transmit this summary and a copy of the written request to the school superintendent.

 

Third Level Decision

 

The school superintendent will review the material provided by the record custodian and, if necessary, discuss the matter with other officials such as the school attorney, or the school board (in executive session).  The superintendent will then make a decision concerning the request and complete the steps at this decision level.  Ordinarily, this level of

 

the procedure should be completed within two weeks.  If it takes longer, the superintendent will notify the requester, in writing, of the reasons for the delay and a date when the decision will be made.

 

If the superintendent decides the record is incorrect and should be changed, he or she will advise the record custodian to make the changes.  The record custodian will advise the requester of the change as at the second level.

 

If the superintendent decides the record is correct, he or she will prepare a letter to the requester, which will include:

 

   1.       The school district's decision that the record is correct and the basis for the decision;

 

   2.       A notice to the requester that he or she has a right to ask for a hearing to present evidence that the record is incorrect and that the district will grant such a hearing;

 

   3.       Instructions for the requester to contact the superintendent, or an official he or she designates, to discuss acceptable hearing officers, convenient times, and a satisfactory site for the hearing (the district will not be bound by the requester's positions on these items, but will, so far as possible, arrange the hearing as the requester wishes); and

 

   4.       Advise that the request may be represented or assisted in the hearing by other parties, including an attorney at the requester's expense.

 

 

 

 

COMPLIANCE WITH FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY

ACT OF 1974, REGULATION (Cont.)

 

 

 

 

Fourth Level Decision

 

After the requester has submitted (orally, or in writing) his or her wishes concerning the hearing officer and the time and place for the hearing, the superintendent will, within a week, notify the requester when and where the district will hold the hearing and who it has designated as the hearing officer.

At the hearing, the hearing officer will provide the requester a full and reasonable opportunity to present material evi­dence and testimony to demonstrate that the questioned part of the student's education record is incorrect as shown in the requester's written request for a change in the record (second level).

 

Within a week after the hearing, the hearing officer will submit to the school superintendent a written summary of the evidence submitted at the hearing.  Along with the summary, the hearing officer will submit his or her recommenda­tion, based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing, that the record should be changed or remain unchanged.

 

The school superintendent will prepare the district's decision within two weeks of the hearing.  The decision will be based on the summary of the evidence presented at the hearing and the hearing officer's recommendation.  However, the district's decision will be based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing.  Therefore, the superintendent may overrule the hearing officer if the superintendent believes the hearing officer's recommendation is not consistent with the evidence presented.  As a result of the district's decision, the superintendent will take one of the following actions:

 

   1.       If the decision is that the district will change the record, the superintendent will instruct the record custodian to correct the record.  The record custodian will correct the record and notify the requester as at the second level decision.

 

   2.       If the decision is that the district will not change the record, the superintendent will prepare a written notice to the requester that will include:

 

             A.   The school district's decision that the record is correct and will not be changed;

 

             B.   A copy of a summary of the evidence presented at the hearing and a written statement of the reasons for the district's decision; and

 

             C.   Advice to the requester that he or she may place in the student's education record an explanatory statement which gives the reasons he or she disagrees with the school district's decision and/or the reasons he or she believes the record is incorrect.